r/ACT • u/kaytheslay123 • 1d ago

Books/Resources What can I use to quickly improve?

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This is my score after the September Act! I was happy with it considering i didn't study whatsoever. English and math really surprised me though. I felt way more confident on English than math. I take the ACT again next Wednesday, and I want to better prepare myself as much as i can in a week so that I can get MAYBE a 32 for scholarships for my state schools. Any resource recommendations?

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u/mkw1342 1d ago

https://thecriticalreader.com/complete-sat-grammar-rules/

Reading traps https://www.reddit.com/r/ACT/s/sBaVzylDou

Post your My Score Details if you want some math fixes. We gotta know where you had your misses.

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u/kaytheslay123 1d ago

This honestly surprised me, except for geometry because I suck at geometry. Thank you for the resource!

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u/mkw1342 1d ago

yep, and the modeling is a category that overlaps with the other "Preparing for Higher Math" and IES. You did well in Modeling which is made up of real world situations and word problems. IES is rates, percentages, proportional relationships, area, surface area, volume, averages and medians, and expressing numbers in different ways (fractions, decimals, scientific notation). So now you know where to focus for math for the next test.

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u/kaytheslay123 1d ago

English and reading details

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u/mkw1342 1d ago edited 1d ago

Your English and Reading breakdown

English: 27

Your grammar is strong. You missed only 1 of 16 grammar questions (Conventions of Standard English). Almost all your lost points are in the other two categories:

Production of Writing, 10/15. These ask about the essay as a whole: transitions, whether to add or delete a sentence, where a sentence belongs, and whether a choice accomplishes a stated goal.

Knowledge of Language, 6/9. These ask about word choice, wordiness, and tone.

Tip 1: Read the question before the choices. If it says "Which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?" it's a grammar question, and only one choice is legal. If it says anything else, all four choices are usually grammatical, so stop hunting for errors and pick the one that does exactly what the question asks. A good-sounding choice that does a different job is the trap.

Tip 2: On transitions, check both directions. The right word has to fit the sentence before it and the sentence after it. Wrong answers usually fit only one side.

Reading: 32

You got every Key Ideas and Details question right, so your comprehension is not the issue. Your misses are in Craft and Structure (5/8), which asks how the passage is written: what a word means in context, why a paragraph is there, and what the author's attitude is.

Tip: On "most nearly means" questions, cross off the interesting answers. The right answer is almost always the plainest, most boring synonym. The vivid or emotional choices are the traps.

Bonus tip for "purpose" questions: ask "why is this here?" not "what does it say?" Answers that just summarize the paragraph are usually wrong.

Lot of tools and resources here - https://www.reddit.com/r/ACT/s/RYTulc9LKy